Shun communal politics: CPM to political parties

New Delhi: Favouring a law to curb communal
violence, the CPI(M) on Saturday appealed to political parties to
avoid "all forms of communal politics" saying there was a
"direct link" between communalism and terrorism in India.
Noting that the secular nature of the polity was getting
eroded due to communal mobilisation, top party leader Prakash
Karat said while religious extremism fuelled terrorist
violence particularly in cases of some Muslim extremist
groups, the politics "sought to be given the garb of
nationalism is nothing but majority communalism".

"Minority communalism also mirrors this approach and
weakens secularism," the CPI(M) general secretary said at the
15th meeting of the National Integration Council here.

"Till political parties eschew all forms of communal
politics, the problem of communalism will remain," he said,
adding that terrorism could be successfully combated "only
when communalism and religious extremism are firmly checked."

Observing that a major source of terrorism was religious
extremism and communal hatred, he said it was "not enough to
say `terrorists have no religion` when we know that religious
extremism and communalism are breeding grounds for terrorism.
There is a direct link between communalism and terrorism in
India."

Stressing the need for a legislation on communal
violence, he said it should give teeth to the administrative
and legal measures that have to be taken to curb communal
violence and ensure speedy punishment for the perpetrators.

However, the law should be in keeping with the federal
principle wherein the state governments have the primary
responsibility for maintenance of law and order and policing.
Such a measure should only focus on `communal violence`
and "not broaden itself to other forms of conflicts and
violence", Karat added.